JOE BRYAN said he is ready to “roll his sleeves up” and do what is necessary to keep Millwall safe.
The Lions head into the final eight games of the league campaign still unsure of their Championship status and among the clubs squabbling to avoid the relegation zone.
Their strong recent run of form has left them in a good position to survive but they still have work to do.
Bryan, in his first season at The Den, is keen to dig in and end the campaign on a high.
He told NewsAtDen: “It’s known as the business end of the season and we have a job to do. When you have a couple of weeks without a game, it’s easy to forget we are still in a semi-precarious position. We’re in a good position in regards to teams around us but we’ve still definitely got a job to do and the points that we’re going to pick up in the next few games are probably the most important points of the season.
“We’re talking about eight games left until the end of the season and that’s by no means ‘eight games left, counting down the games’. It’s more knowing we need to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in again and really pick up some points.”
Bryan has fought his way back into the side having missed three games in a row due to a retrospective ban.
The FA intervened to punish the 30-year-old after he clashed with Coventry City’s Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in Millwall’s 2-1 loss at the CBS Arena last month.
Bryan admits the incident “looked bad” but insisted there was no intention to hurt the opposition player.
He said: “I made a comment on my Instagram just because I watched the video back and the manager at the time [Joe Edwards] said ‘look, I think you might be in trouble.’
“I was sent it on Twitter and it looked really, really bad. And I’ve never played the game like that. I’ve never gone to intentionally hurt someone. Mistakes happen in football and I extended my apologies to the boy and hopefully he accepted them. Football moved on, I served the suspension and hopefully it won’t happen again.
“Things like that happens now and again in football and you just have to deal with them. As a player of 30 years old with a bank of games behind you, I’ve dealt with most things. I’ve dealt with promotions, relegations, won the league, won a cup, injuries, play-off games, I’ve played in League Two with Plymouth and the Premier League with Fulham, I’ve played abroad and in European competitions.
“The only thing that hasn’t really happened to me is I hadn’t been sent off or been suspended. So by the law of averages it was bound to happen at some point and when those things happen in football, you just have to deal with them. As long as you do right by your own character and the way you’ve been raised, [you accept that] mistakes happen.”
The suspension caused Bryan to miss three games after injury had already disrupted his game time this season. The defender is grateful for the timing of the international break so he could get his body into recovery mode.
He said: “The only days as a professional footballer you feel good are normally the first three or four days of pre-season. Especially when you’re approaching your late 20s and you’ve played a few hundred games, you’re just constantly playing with aches and pains. I think that’s easy to forget for people. Most games you’re carrying some type of tightness or injury or ailment or illness. And I’m by no means moaning about it, but it’s a common thing.”
Bryan is now focused on trying to stay in the team and impress Neil Harris.
The defender added: “The gaffer now has come in with a very simple and clear message of what he wants and how he wants to approach games and that’s working so far, so long may that continue.
“It’s a different style of football than I’ve played before but I can adapt and I can fit into that so as long as the message is clear, concise and done in a positive way, I’m all in.”